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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: key · face · cell · straw · game · pitcher · mine · band

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. face — to point toward
  8. band — a music group
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. cell — in biology
  13. game — a match
  14. face — to confront
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. key — in music
  18. key — for a lock
  19. key — the most important part
  20. face — part of the head
  21. game — wild animals
  22. cell — a phone
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cell — in a prison

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com